Quinnipiac baseball looked to take a series win Sunday in the rubber match against the Fairfield Stags. They would do so, winning 5-4 on a walk-off hit-by-pitch in a game that was tight throughout.
“We controlled game one, they controlled game two and game three went to extra innings, we just came up with one extra big spot,” said Quinnipiac manager John Delaney.”
Jacob Belecky started on the mound for the Bobcats. After hitting TJ Schmatzle and allowing him to steal second, Belecky would give up an RBI single to Matt Bucciero to give the Stags an early 1-0 lead.
Fairfield starter Nick Kelly would respond by working a 1-2-3 bottom of the first inning. In the top of the second, Belecky would respond right back, getting the first two batters out via groundout and strikeout. Luke Spencer would reach on a hit by pitch, but would be thrown out by Bobcats catcher Cole Constable, trying to steal second base.
Quinnipiac would get a runner on in the bottom of the second as James Marino reached on an error, but he would be thrown out trying to advance to third on a bloop single into left.
The Stags would pressure Belecky in the top of the fourth inning, with two runners reaching base, but the Bobcats starter would paint the corner to get Spencer looking and keep the Stags’ lead at 1-0.
The Bobcats’ offense would finally deliver in the top of the fifth, with two runners on, James Marino would launch a three-run home run over the right field wall, giving Quinnipiac a 3-1 lead.
“He’s really confident,” Delaney said of Marino. “When things are going well for the kid, he’s got confidence in big spots.”
The Stags would respond by getting runners on the corners with two outs, but Belecky would get Bucciero swinging for his fifth and final strikeout of the game. He would be replaced by Mason Ulsh to start the sixth inning.
“My outing felt pretty damn good and their second in the conference,” Belecky said, “I had to step up big and give us a chance to win.”
JP Kuczik and Scanlon would reach to start the sixth. Ulsh would get the next two outs on strikeouts, but Ryan Paine would line the ball off of Irizzary’s glove and into left field, allowing the Stags to tie the game at three.
The first three Bobcat batters in the bottom of the sixth would reach, causing Fairfield to replace reliever Brandon Miller with Jack Sheldon. Constable would hit a sac fly to give the Bobcats a 4-3 lead heading into the seventh.
But in the bottom of the inning, Bucciero would drive the ball over the right-center field wall to tie the game once more for the Stags. The Bobcats didn’t score in the bottom half and the game would go to the ninth tied.
Matt Alduino would sit the Stags down in the top of the ninth. Smith and Irizzary singled in the bottom half, with Irizzary stealing second. Ryan Maiorano would walk Balcer, and Fairfield would bring in Alex Frank with one out and the bases loaded, with the winning run 90 feet from home.
Frank had been warming in the bullpen since the seventh inning, but on his first pitch in the game, he would drill Marino with a pitch, shocking the Stags and giving the Bobcats a 5-4 win.
“Coach always tells us, ‘You gotta hold your ground, don’t get out of the way of pitches, ‘” Marino said. “We work on not getting out of the way and that was just one of the times it all came together.”
Quinnipiac still finds itself outside of the playoff picture, in seventh place in the MAAC, but it significantly increased its chances with this win. They will take on the conference-leading Rider Broncs at home next weekend, beginning on Thursday at 3 pm and a doubleheader Friday starting at noon.
“Every win matters, they’re all equally important right now, you’re just trying to win the series, you don’t want to get hung up on it and just play game by game,” Delaney said. ‘We gotta olay our best baseball at the back end of the season and the only one that can hold us back is ourselves.”
